


And Though I Close My Eyes

by BreTheWriter



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Gen, pjoshipweeks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 04:14:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/895683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreTheWriter/pseuds/BreTheWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the brink of the biggest quest she's ever undertaken, Silena is just thankful that she's able to be with Charlie for this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Though I Close My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Week 2 of the 2013 PJO Shipweeks.

"Come on, 'Lena, we've gotta hurry!" Charlie says urgently, gripping her hand. "They won't last long without help. " 

Silena tries to quicken her pace, she really does, but she's never been the fastest person in the world. "Are you sure this is going to work? After all...has anyone ever tried this before?" 

"Remember what Chiron always used to tell us?" Charlie reminds her. "'A hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he--or she--has the nerve.' That doesn't change just because we've gone to Elysium. Be different if we were in the Fields of Asphodel, or even the Fields of Punishment, but we get to keep our memories in Elysium. And our abilities." 

"Thank the gods for that," Silena mumbles, glancing over her shoulder. Behind them, two faintly glowing shapes, a woman's and a young man's, cling to the back of a faintly glowing tiger, its muscles rippling as it tries to catch up to them. "I know why he's helping, but why are _they?"_

"I didn't ask," Charlie admits. "The important thing is, they _are."_

The tiger, with its two passengers, catches up to them as they reach a gaping black pit. All five of them slow to a stop. The tiger changes into a woman in combat fatigues. She looks at the other woman, wearing jeans and a grease-stained t-shirt. "You've got great control with your knees." 

The other woman smiles. "My _abuelo_ taught me to ride," she says in a voice with a faint Spanish accent. 

The young man looks into the pit and shudders. "It was bad enough just dreaming about this place, but now..." 

"We've got to help them, Luke," Charlie says firmly. "They're family. _Our_ family. And everything is at stake here. The whole world. Who knows what Gaea is capable of?" 

The mechanic woman nods. "He's right. We have to do this." She turns to Charlie. "Your father told me once he wasn't much good with people. I'm glad you don't take after him." 

Charlie looks a little embarrassed. "I did, for years. It took someone very special to teach me otherwise." He looks at Silena and smiles. 

She smiles back, but it freezes as she realizes that this may be the last time she sees that smile. This isn't an ordinary quest, an ordinary danger. This is _Tartarus_. They're going up against the mother of all evil, literally. None of them are sure what can happen to them, since they're already dead, but the look on Nico di Angelo's face when he passed through the last time, when he told them about the prophecy and the quest, makes her think that it won't be pleasant. 

Charlie seems to be having the same thoughts, because his smile falters. Luke notices and turns to the two women. "Uh, Ms. Valdez, Captain Zhang, can you give me a hand here? I want to, uh, make a ladder or a rope or something. Some way that Percy and Annabeth can climb out if they have to." 

Captain Zhang glances at Charlie and Silena, then nudges Ms. Valdez. "Come on, Esperanza, let's see what we can do." 

The three senior members of the quest drift towards a pile of rubble and debris, leaving Charlie and Silena alone. Charlie comes forward and wordlessly puts his arms around her, holding her tight. 

Silena grips the front of his t-shirt, burying her face in his chest. "Charlie," she whispers. "I'm scared." 

"Me, too," Charlie admits. He strokes her hair lightly. "I wasn't this scared on the _Princess Andromeda._ Don't know why." 

Silena looks up at him. They've never discussed his death, not really. She's told him all about hers--even confessed that she had been a spy for Kronos--and he's forgiven her: absolutely, unequivocably, completely. But they've never talked about his. 

Now, though, she says, "Percy told me...right before the mission, you...you looked at my picture." 

Charlie nods. "I did. I guess I kind of knew I wasn't getting off that ship alive, and I wanted the last thing I saw to be your face." 

Silena is touched. "I love you." 

"I love you, too." Charlie puts two fingers under her chin and kisses her. 

She responds, sliding her arms around his neck, and they kiss deeply and passionately, and suddenly she is crying, crying like she hasn't since before the Battle of Manhattan, crying for what they had and what might have been and what they stand to lose. Charlie breaks the kiss and pulls her head back onto his chest and just holds her, but she can feel water on the back of her head in a vague, ghostly way and knows he's crying, too. 

After a few long moments, her sobs subside. She takes a deep breath and looks up at Charlie. "I'm okay now," she murmurs. 

"Good." Charlie strokes her hair one more time, then turns to Luke and the two women. "Are you guys ready?" 

Captain Zhang salutes smartly. "Ready when you are, O Fearless Leader." 

Charlie looks embarrassed again. "I wish you'd quit calling me that. You're all senior to me." 

"This was your idea, Beckendorf," Luke reminds him. "You were the one who told us what was going on. You're the one who came up with the plan. You're the leader." He smiles suddenly, looking like the boy Silena had had a crush on years before instead of the bitter, jaded young man he'd become before his death. "And I, for one, would follow you anywhere." 

Silena looks up at Charlie and smiles. "Tell us what to do, Charlie." 

He smiles at her and takes her hand. "Come on, 'Lena. We'll go together. Captain Zhang, bring up the rear, will you?" 

"You've got it, Beckendorf." Captain Zhang salutes again. 

Charlie squeezes Silena's hand. "Let's do this thing." 

"Together," Silena agrees. 

_Forever._

They take a deep breath, and jump.


End file.
